I mounted the antenna outside the main location about 3' from the ground,and I have unobstructed LOS to the gazebo.

I thought that this would be a slam-dunk, as the advertised range of theDI-514 is 300 feet indoors and 1300 feet outdoors (yes, I realize under"ideal" conditions). I thought putting the antenna outside in direct LOS ofthe gazebo would pretty much make the conditions as ideal as possible, aswell as increase the gain in the system.

I estimated the signal strength close to the antenna (accounting for cableloss, antenna gain, and free space loss) at about -13dBm.OK, I ignored any losses in the assorted pigtails, etc..

Using the utilities shipped with my laptop, the received signal levels Iexperience are as follows:

At each location, I am in full view of the antenna. Beyond 150 feet I can'thold the signal long enough to get a good reading.

The annoying aspect is that for some reason I can also pick up anotherwireless network at all locations, although not reliably. When I can get asignal from the other network, it appears to be in the -60 dBm to -70 dBmrange. The signal strength is pretty independent of where I am along thepath to the gazebo. In other words, the signal strength from the othernetwork is stronger in some locations in others, but not clearly stronger atone end or the other of the path to the gazebo. (I haven't determined whichneighbors signal I have yet, but suspect that a line to their location isperpendicular to the path to the gazebo.)

think 3' is awfully close to the grnd, might raise it up and see if thingsimprove .fwiwI've a di624 with both a 5.5db omni range extender and a 6db 80degreedirectional panel attached and with a standard g pc card - at 150' signalis around half strength on the little indicators.

I'm no antenna guru, but when I added a 8db yaggi directional flag antennato the laptops compex g pc.card it was a definite grin maker. It's 100%signal most anywhere ,,, one bad area that was 26% is now 76% aimed throughI guess mortar over wire lath wall and two other wood/drywall type sidings.

"Dave M" <someone@microsoft.com> wrote in messagenews:xL6dnR3XR6Lyen_d4p2dnA@comcast.com...> I would appreciate some help understanding what I have done wrong here. Iam> attempting to extend access out to a gazebo about 500-600 feet from mymain> location.>> My set-up consists of> DLink MI-514 Wireless Router> about 20' of LMR 400 antenna cable> A 8.5 dB Omnidirectional Antenna (no downtilt to the radiation pattern)> A Dell Laptop with a built-in True Mobile card.> Assorted pigtails, adapters, and lighting arrestor.>> I mounted the antenna outside the main location about 3' from the ground,> and I have unobstructed LOS to the gazebo.>> I thought that this would be a slam-dunk, as the advertised range of the> DI-514 is 300 feet indoors and 1300 feet outdoors (yes, I realize under> "ideal" conditions). I thought putting the antenna outside in direct LOSof> the gazebo would pretty much make the conditions as ideal as possible, as> well as increase the gain in the system.>> I estimated the signal strength close to the antenna (accounting for cable> loss, antenna gain, and free space loss) at about> -13dBm.> OK, I ignored any losses in the assorted pigtails, etc..>> Using the utilities shipped with my laptop, the received signal levels I> experience are as follows:>> at 5 to 10 feet -27 dBm> at 50 feet -50 dBm> at 100 feet -61 dBm> at 150 feet -73 dBm>> At each location, I am in full view of the antenna. Beyond 150 feet Ican't> hold the signal long enough to get a good reading.>> The annoying aspect is that for some reason I can also pick up another> wireless network at all locations, although not reliably. When I can geta> signal from the other network, it appears to be in the -60 dBm to -70 dBm> range. The signal strength is pretty independent of where I am along the> path to the gazebo. In other words, the signal strength from the other> network is stronger in some locations in others, but not clearly strongerat> one end or the other of the path to the gazebo. (I haven't determinedwhich> neighbors signal I have yet, but suspect that a line to their location is> perpendicular to the path to the gazebo.)>> Any thoughts??>> Dave M>>

I would have to agree, 3' is awfully close to go that distance. Theother thing you might try is getting a stronger antenna and see ifthat helps. Myabe buy it, try it, if it doesn't help take itback...think Radio Shack, Circuit city, etc.A somewhat trial and error thing to try is putting up a small(12"x12")piece of cardboard covered with aluminum foil to act as a reflectorbehind your current antenna and see if the numbers get better. I haveseen this work indoors so a stainless metal panel would work outdoors.Smooth out the foil as much as you can.

>think 3' is awfully close to the grnd, might raise it up and see if things>improve .>fwiw>I've a di624 with both a 5.5db omni range extender and a 6db 80degree>directional panel attached and with a standard g pc card - at 150' signal>is around half strength on the little indicators.>>I'm no antenna guru, but when I added a 8db yaggi directional flag antenna>to the laptops compex g pc.card it was a definite grin maker. It's 100%>signal most anywhere ,,, one bad area that was 26% is now 76% aimed through>I guess mortar over wire lath wall and two other wood/drywall type sidings.>>>"Dave M" <someone@microsoft.com> wrote in message>news:xL6dnR3XR6Lyen_d4p2dnA@comcast.com...>> I would appreciate some help understanding what I have done wrong here. I>am>> attempting to extend access out to a gazebo about 500-600 feet from my>main>> location.>>>> My set-up consists of>> DLink MI-514 Wireless Router>> about 20' of LMR 400 antenna cable>> A 8.5 dB Omnidirectional Antenna (no downtilt to the radiation pattern)>> A Dell Laptop with a built-in True Mobile card.>> Assorted pigtails, adapters, and lighting arrestor.>>>> I mounted the antenna outside the main location about 3' from the ground,>> and I have unobstructed LOS to the gazebo.>>>> I thought that this would be a slam-dunk, as the advertised range of the>> DI-514 is 300 feet indoors and 1300 feet outdoors (yes, I realize under>> "ideal" conditions). I thought putting the antenna outside in direct LOS>of>> the gazebo would pretty much make the conditions as ideal as possible, as>> well as increase the gain in the system.>>>> I estimated the signal strength close to the antenna (accounting for cable>> loss, antenna gain, and free space loss) at about>> -13dBm.>> OK, I ignored any losses in the assorted pigtails, etc..>>>> Using the utilities shipped with my laptop, the received signal levels I>> experience are as follows:>>>> at 5 to 10 feet -27 dBm>> at 50 feet -50 dBm>> at 100 feet -61 dBm>> at 150 feet -73 dBm>>>> At each location, I am in full view of the antenna. Beyond 150 feet I>can't>> hold the signal long enough to get a good reading.>>>> The annoying aspect is that for some reason I can also pick up another>> wireless network at all locations, although not reliably. When I can get>a>> signal from the other network, it appears to be in the -60 dBm to -70 dBm>> range. The signal strength is pretty independent of where I am along the>> path to the gazebo. In other words, the signal strength from the other>> network is stronger in some locations in others, but not clearly stronger>at>> one end or the other of the path to the gazebo. (I haven't determined>which>> neighbors signal I have yet, but suspect that a line to their location is>> perpendicular to the path to the gazebo.)>>>> Any thoughts??>>>> Dave M>>>>>

>I'm no antenna guru, but when I added a 8db yaggi directional flag antenna>to the laptops compex g pc.card it was a definite grin maker. It's 100%>signal most anywhere ,,, one bad area that was 26% is now 76% aimed through>I guess mortar over wire lath wall and two other wood/drywall type sidings.>What specific antenna did you add?

"Dave M" <someone@microsoft.com> wrote in messagenews:xL6dnR3XR6Lyen_d4p2dnA@comcast.com...> I would appreciate some help understanding what I have done wrong here. Iam> attempting to extend access out to a gazebo about 500-600 feet from mymain> location.>> My set-up consists of> DLink MI-514 Wireless Router> about 20' of LMR 400 antenna cable> A 8.5 dB Omnidirectional Antenna (no downtilt to the radiation pattern)> A Dell Laptop with a built-in True Mobile card.> Assorted pigtails, adapters, and lighting arrestor.>> I mounted the antenna outside the main location about 3' from the ground,> and I have unobstructed LOS to the gazebo.>> I thought that this would be a slam-dunk, as the advertised range of the> DI-514 is 300 feet indoors and 1300 feet outdoors (yes, I realize under> "ideal" conditions). I thought putting the antenna outside in direct LOSof> the gazebo would pretty much make the conditions as ideal as possible, as> well as increase the gain in the system.>> I estimated the signal strength close to the antenna (accounting for cable> loss, antenna gain, and free space loss) at about> -13dBm.> OK, I ignored any losses in the assorted pigtails, etc..>> Using the utilities shipped with my laptop, the received signal levels I> experience are as follows:>> at 5 to 10 feet -27 dBm> at 50 feet -50 dBm> at 100 feet -61 dBm> at 150 feet -73 dBm>> At each location, I am in full view of the antenna. Beyond 150 feet Ican't> hold the signal long enough to get a good reading.>> The annoying aspect is that for some reason I can also pick up another> wireless network at all locations, although not reliably. When I can geta> signal from the other network, it appears to be in the -60 dBm to -70 dBm> range. The signal strength is pretty independent of where I am along the> path to the gazebo. In other words, the signal strength from the other> network is stronger in some locations in others, but not clearly strongerat> one end or the other of the path to the gazebo. (I haven't determinedwhich> neighbors signal I have yet, but suspect that a line to their location is> perpendicular to the path to the gazebo.)>> Any thoughts??>> Dave M

Do you know what channels your neighbors' signals are using? Try to find achannel away from theirs.

yeah - those published numbers are always interesting -I've wanted to take my WAP11 Access Point and do a test in a local soccerfield -

Take my UPS and a couple of laptops - for a small network setup -Setup the WAP11 and a laptop connected via hub - with the UPS for powerThen take another laptop and do a walk around site survey -It would be real interesting to see some results from this kind of test...Wonder if anyone has done this - and posted it to the web ?Phil

<brian-s-jones-at-comcast.net> wrote in messagenews:vf38e0lbs8n9kqi9njqr0frehuu63t5hqe@4ax.com...> On Wed, 30 Jun 2004 23:58:43 GMT, "bumtracks" <user@unknown.org>> wrote:>>> >I'm no antenna guru, but when I added a 8db yaggi directional flagantenna> >to the laptops compex g pc.card it was a definite grin maker. It's 100%> >signal most anywhere ,,, one bad area that was 26% is now 76% aimedthrough> >I guess mortar over wire lath wall and two other wood/drywall typesidings.> >> What specific antenna did you add?>

>My set-up consists of> DLink MI-514 Wireless Router> about 20' of LMR 400 antenna cable> A 8.5 dB Omnidirectional Antenna (no downtilt to the radiation pattern)> A Dell Laptop with a built-in True Mobile card.> Assorted pigtails, adapters, and lighting arrestor.>>I mounted the antenna outside the main location about 3' from the ground,>and I have unobstructed LOS to the gazebo.

This should be a no-brainer with LOTS of signal to play with. Inother words, it should work without difficulties.

The DI-514 has an R-SMA connector for the antenna. However, thethickness of the plastic rear panel, lock washer, and SMA nut allaccumulate to cause a typical R-SMA connector to NOT fit very well.My guess(tm) is that the center pin is not making very good contact.Unscrew the gold nut, remove the lockwasher, and put the nut back andit will work. (Note: This drove me nuts for a few hours until Idiscovered the problem).

>I thought that this would be a slam-dunk, as the advertised range of the>DI-514 is 300 feet indoors and 1300 feet outdoors (yes, I realize under>"ideal" conditions). I thought putting the antenna outside in direct LOS of>the gazebo would pretty much make the conditions as ideal as possible, as>well as increase the gain in the system.>>I estimated the signal strength close to the antenna (accounting for cable>loss, antenna gain, and free space loss) at about> -13dBm.>OK, I ignored any losses in the assorted pigtails, etc..

My guess(tm) is that you have too much antenna gain. An 8.5dBi omniantenna will have a -3dB vertical beamwidth of about 10 degrees. Thatmeans that the bulk of your power goes into an area that is plus orminus 5 degrees from horizontal. Actually, there may be some uptiltin the pattern if the antenna is mounted close to a horizontal groundplane.

At 500ft trigonometry proclaims that a 10 degree beamwidth results ina useful vertical coverage area of perhaps plus or minus 44 ft. Ifthe antenna was mounted on a tall rooftop, and your laptop is atground level, you're sending most of your RF over your laptops head.Of course, you could tilt the antenna over towards the gazeebo, thatwould be aesthetically disgusting.

I am no guru, but as soon as I read your post, It is my best opinion thatyou need to raise your antenna. Put it as high as possible. I have alwaysread that your antenna needs to be high as possible.

Hope this helps.

Jason

"Dave M" <someone@microsoft.com> wrote in messagenews:xL6dnR3XR6Lyen_d4p2dnA@comcast.com...> I would appreciate some help understanding what I have done wrong here. Iam> attempting to extend access out to a gazebo about 500-600 feet from mymain> location.>> My set-up consists of> DLink MI-514 Wireless Router> about 20' of LMR 400 antenna cable> A 8.5 dB Omnidirectional Antenna (no downtilt to the radiation pattern)> A Dell Laptop with a built-in True Mobile card.> Assorted pigtails, adapters, and lighting arrestor.>> I mounted the antenna outside the main location about 3' from the ground,> and I have unobstructed LOS to the gazebo.>> I thought that this would be a slam-dunk, as the advertised range of the> DI-514 is 300 feet indoors and 1300 feet outdoors (yes, I realize under> "ideal" conditions). I thought putting the antenna outside in direct LOSof> the gazebo would pretty much make the conditions as ideal as possible, as> well as increase the gain in the system.>> I estimated the signal strength close to the antenna (accounting for cable> loss, antenna gain, and free space loss) at about> -13dBm.> OK, I ignored any losses in the assorted pigtails, etc..>> Using the utilities shipped with my laptop, the received signal levels I> experience are as follows:>> at 5 to 10 feet -27 dBm> at 50 feet -50 dBm> at 100 feet -61 dBm> at 150 feet -73 dBm>> At each location, I am in full view of the antenna. Beyond 150 feet Ican't> hold the signal long enough to get a good reading.>> The annoying aspect is that for some reason I can also pick up another> wireless network at all locations, although not reliably. When I can geta> signal from the other network, it appears to be in the -60 dBm to -70 dBm> range. The signal strength is pretty independent of where I am along the> path to the gazebo. In other words, the signal strength from the other> network is stronger in some locations in others, but not clearly strongerat> one end or the other of the path to the gazebo. (I haven't determinedwhich> neighbors signal I have yet, but suspect that a line to their location is> perpendicular to the path to the gazebo.)>> Any thoughts??>> Dave M>>

I appreciate all the comments that have been made. I will try some of thesuggestions provided and let you know what I find out.

Thanks Again, Dave.

"Dave M" <someone@microsoft.com> wrote in messagenews:xL6dnR3XR6Lyen_d4p2dnA@comcast.com...> I would appreciate some help understanding what I have done wrong here. Iam> attempting to extend access out to a gazebo about 500-600 feet from mymain> location.><snip>

If that doesn't work try not using an omni antenna and use a flatpanel like the andrew 11 dbi model dl2412. These offer a much higherbeamwidth of 75 x 27 degrees. The beamwidth can be changed eithervertical or horizontal depending on how it is mounted.

As people said with the omni the beamwidth is very narrow so if youare just above or below the beamwidth you will very little signal.

Also generally as you double the distance your signal should drop by 6db. If it is dropping by more than this amount you are not in the mainbeam but likely in a side lobe.

M" <someone@microsoft.com> wrote in message news:<VcKdnTvTgdI2l3Hd4p2dnA@comcast.com>...> I appreciate all the comments that have been made. I will try some of the> suggestions provided and let you know what I find out.> > Thanks Again,> Dave.> > > "Dave M" <someone@microsoft.com> wrote in message> news:xL6dnR3XR6Lyen_d4p2dnA@comcast.com...> > I would appreciate some help understanding what I have done wrong here. I> am> > attempting to extend access out to a gazebo about 500-600 feet from my> main> > location.> ><snip>

Sounds like you either have put bad ends on your cable, have bad cable, ora bad antenna.

MI-514 output: 15dbm - about 5db for the LMR400 run = 10dbm -1db forconnectors=9dbm+8.5db for the antenna (by the way.. place this high.. an omni at this higha gain will have a supertight angle of radiation.. probably a lower gain antenna at that heightwould be better) = 17.5dbmAt 17.5dbm EIRP you should yield a much higher RSSI at the distances youlist...

Your 20 ft of LMR400 is also hurting you as LMR400 has a huge loss/ftBy moving to LMR600 you will probably gain about 3dbi which will double youroutput power/rcvrpower... But again.. check all your connections as I bet it is just a badantenna connector..Check with an ohm meter for impedence as well 52ohms

"Dave M" <someone@microsoft.com> wrote in messagenews:xL6dnR3XR6Lyen_d4p2dnA@comcast.com...> I would appreciate some help understanding what I have done wrong here. Iam> attempting to extend access out to a gazebo about 500-600 feet from mymain> location.>> My set-up consists of> DLink MI-514 Wireless Router> about 20' of LMR 400 antenna cable> A 8.5 dB Omnidirectional Antenna (no downtilt to the radiation pattern)> A Dell Laptop with a built-in True Mobile card.> Assorted pigtails, adapters, and lighting arrestor.>> I mounted the antenna outside the main location about 3' from the ground,> and I have unobstructed LOS to the gazebo.>> I thought that this would be a slam-dunk, as the advertised range of the> DI-514 is 300 feet indoors and 1300 feet outdoors (yes, I realize under> "ideal" conditions). I thought putting the antenna outside in direct LOSof> the gazebo would pretty much make the conditions as ideal as possible, as> well as increase the gain in the system.>> I estimated the signal strength close to the antenna (accounting for cable> loss, antenna gain, and free space loss) at about> -13dBm.> OK, I ignored any losses in the assorted pigtails, etc..>> Using the utilities shipped with my laptop, the received signal levels I> experience are as follows:>> at 5 to 10 feet -27 dBm> at 50 feet -50 dBm> at 100 feet -61 dBm> at 150 feet -73 dBm>> At each location, I am in full view of the antenna. Beyond 150 feet Ican't> hold the signal long enough to get a good reading.>> The annoying aspect is that for some reason I can also pick up another> wireless network at all locations, although not reliably. When I can geta> signal from the other network, it appears to be in the -60 dBm to -70 dBm> range. The signal strength is pretty independent of where I am along the> path to the gazebo. In other words, the signal strength from the other> network is stronger in some locations in others, but not clearly strongerat> one end or the other of the path to the gazebo. (I haven't determinedwhich> neighbors signal I have yet, but suspect that a line to their location is> perpendicular to the path to the gazebo.)>> Any thoughts??>> Dave M>>>

That is bad advice. The 50 ohm thing is an RF impedance. An ohm meterwill never measure it unless something might just happen to beterminated with a 50 ohm resistor -- unlikely.

The idea to check with an ohm meter is fine, but it is just a continuity/ short test. If you get the two ends of the cable in one place, checkto make sure the grounds (shield side) of both ends are connected. Thecenter wires are connected, and there is no short between the shield andcenter (one end should be fine, but try both if it makes you feelbetter).

Measuring the impedence, which could affect transmission through SWRreflections, or the loss at 2.4 GHz, is not something you can do with anohm meter, but if you used proper cable and connectors, and the ohmmeter continuity/short tests are ok, then it is unlikely you need tomake any other tests which would require special RF test equipment.

Just wanted to get some reality here and not have you thinking thereshould be 50 ohms you can measure with an DC ohm meter.

>Your 20 ft of LMR400 is also hurting you as LMR400 has a huge loss/ft>By moving to LMR600 you will probably gain about 3dbi which will double your>output power/rcvr>power... But again.. check all your connections as I bet it is just a bad>antenna connector..>Check with an ohm meter for impedence as well 52ohms

How can you measure impedance with an ohmmeter at these frequencies?..